Her art is not for the timid. It seems on the surface seductively natural, simple almost, with its happy undiluted colors and sketch-like brushwork; but there is a brazen outspokenness to it that befits a film censor’s step-daughter. Yet the sweetness of her sheltered youth lingers in the yearning for ideal live.

Melinda on her step-father’s impact on her art: “It’s probably also true that if he had been a minister, my work might not be so filmic, but I would have painted the same thing, because spirituality is what my work is about, the quest for the truth in human relationships. It’s funny to think of a film censor and a minister having the same impact, but underlying both mentalities is an understanding of human nature. Of course, their answer is to try to curb or control it under the guise of societal good or religious conviction; mine is simply to exalt it.”

Artistic expression – wether through the visual image, the spoken or written word, or the musical cord – was the bread and wine of late 19th and early 20th century salons in Europe. Artists weren’t defined by a métier, but rather by a philosophy that encouraged expression and didn’t set limits or boundaries.

In that tradition, the private gallery, Salon des Artistes, curates exhibitions and presents artists, be they writers, musicians, sculptors, painters or poets, in an environment that facilitates appreciation of their art.